Leaving Taiwan

For the past two years, I have lived, taught, played and loved in Tainan, Taiwan. Now I am leaving Taiwan to go back to the USA. God has blessed me so much in this time. He has given me a fun job, AMAZING co-workers, FANTASTIC friends and a great church family. I have had so much fun and learned so much.

I have tried several times to write down what God has taught me while in Taiwan. I have also tried to really sum up what Taiwan means to me and I can’t do it. I am not a great writer. I don’t have that knack of describing in a few words the essence of something, or  emotions.

Taiwan has been a time of releasing. When I came here, I had to release so much of my former life. I had to give up friends, family, possessions, pride, and independence. When you are overseas, you learn which of your friends really cherish you by the ones who make an effort to stay in your life. You learn to be okay without seeing your family often and not having people to constantly depend on. You leave everything behind, taking with you only what you can fit in one or two suitcases.  You have to lose your pride because when in a new environment, it is like you are a small child having to ask what to do even in simple situations. You have to learn how to be okay with sounding and looking dumb quite often. You have to give up some independence because, unless you speak the language, you can do NOTHING alone. You have to have help at the hospital, bank, post office, grocery store, gas station, everywhere.

But I have also gained SO much more than I had to give up. I gained new friends, a new perspective, a new language, new cultural traditions, new independence, new self esteem.

I gained friendships that are much deeper than ones I lost. I met people from all walks of life who are bound to me by such intense bonds of fellowship, laughter and tears that it makes other friendships seem silly. I gained such a huge global perspective. The world no longer seems so vast. I know people in all corners of the earth and I learned that those people are all very similar. They love, they cry, they hurt, they smile and they laugh. Nationality and culture mean little if you laugh and cry together. I learned how to communicate efficiently in a new language. I learned how important body language and charades are when you don’t know the right words! I learned how gracious people are when you are obviously, hopelessly confused! I gained a knowledge and appreciation for different traditions and holidays. Forevermore, I will celebrate Dragonboat festival, Moon Festivals, Chinese NewYear and other festivals. I will incorporate Taiwanese wedding traditions into my American wedding plans! I learned how to make traditional foods. I gained a different kind of independence that says… “Psshhh this isn’t hard. Hard is moving to a country where you don’t know anyone or anything and thriving.” I gained the independence that knows I could always move to another country and teach English! I gained the self esteem that comes with these skills. I gained self esteem from knowing that I am tough and can handle myself in a foreign country. I gained self esteem from my precious students telling me every day that I am beautiful, even when I felt I looked my worst. I gained precious life experience.

God has used Taiwan, my church, my friends and my experiences to tear down some large walls I had built around myself. I learned how to REALLY trust him with my life. He took painful experiences from the past and replaced them with positive things. I went through my first real crisis of faith here and have emerged much stronger and resilient.

And now I will leave.

Part of me is crying out to myself, “Why are you leaving? Are you crazy?” Another part is very happy and excited about the challenges I will face at my next job (which I will announce as soon as it is officially voted upon!” A large part of me is sad to leave the people who have taught me so much and supported me along the way. And yet another part is ready to  be home with my beloved family!

So… Taiwan. You have part of my heart. I will never forget you and I love you!

Firsts and Lasts

In the past two years I have had a lot of “firsts”. Now that I am leaving Taiwan and going home for good, I am experiencing so many “lasts”. I was thinking about some of the first and last things I am now doing.

The first time I flew long distance alone.

The first time I drove a scooter.

The first time I rode a high speed train/ or any train for that matter.

The first time I went grocery shopping at Carrefore.

The first time I celebrated Christmas without my family.

The first time I managed to order food in Chinese.

The first time I taught English to students whose native language is NOT English.

The first time I rowed with a dragonboat team.

The first time I went to Kenting.

The first time I traveled to India and China.

The first time I went to Taipei to see Alicia.

The first time I introduced holidays to people (Thanksgiving, Halloween)

The first time I took a ferry.

The first time I ate Stinky Tofu!

Now it is the last time I will

Shop at the open traditional market.

Bake in my tiny oven

Eat at Willy’s or Bus-7

Skype for hours with my parents

Chat with my roommate and friends.

Drink blueberry or raspberry juice.

Listen to Living Water Church worship and pray in Chinese.

Drink Bubble Milk Tea

Eat Mango Ice!

Eat dumplings!

Drive my scooter to the beach.

Be stared at wherever I go.

Be adored by all my students.

Take a nap during down time at work.

See my beloved friends and students.

Joke with my coworkers.

Sweat just sitting at my desk.

Live in fear of it raining on my way to work

Kill spiders and bugs large enough to eat a small dog! (just kidding)

Bake cookies for my small group

Eat sushi for one US dollar.

Teach students how to have basic conversation

2013 Graduation

This past week all of my 9^th grade and 12^th Grade students graduated from Junior High and High school. It is a bittersweet time as I am happy that they are graduating, sad because I will miss them and happy because now I have fewer classes!

For the high school’s last class, we had a “English Graduation Ceremony”.  High school graduation here is not a huge deal. They don’t wear anything special or really do that much, so I wanted to do something different.

So a few weeks earlier we started preparing. We used black paper to make graduation caps, took graduation photos, learned about graduation in America, and prepped for the ceremony.

On the last day of my class, we had our English Graduation! They did the usual walking in to Pomp and Circumstance, receiving the diploma and hearing a (very short) speech from their two teachers. It was fun and I think they enjoyed it!

On the actual graduation day, the students had a short(ish) ceremony that of course I understood little of. They sang a song together and after the ceremony, we partied!!

Of course, what I really mean is that the senior class and their teachers went to a Japanese restaurant and ate lunch together. It was a fun lunch though!

Dragonboat 2013

Dragonboat time came around again! This year I didn't row with a team! I was too busy and couldn't make all the practices. Instead I watched and cheered for my students, co-workers and friends! 

Poor Vince after his team lost!

Club Photoshoot!

These are some of my precious kids in my English Club. They were kind of shy about getting their photos taken, but I got a few!

Goodbye Grace

One of the women in  my small group left recently to head back to school in Canada. I only knew Grace a short time, but I loved her so much! She came into our small group and rescued me from being the only girl there! While in Taiwan, she learned more about her faith and now desires to live a life passionately for Jesus! As she goes back to school, please keep her in your prayers. Pray that she...

1. Continues to grow in her faith!

2. Finds a good church and friends who can encourage her in the Lord.

3. Has the courage to stand for her beliefs.

4. Has the ability to influence the friends she is returning to!

We had such fun at her going away party. We canoed, built a sandcastle at the beach, ate yummy food and laughed and laughed. I will really miss her!